One approach to synthesizing data is to use the coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) framework that requires scientists to move beyond the methodological barriers of their discipline and develop integrative frameworks and models for analysis of environmental issues (An and López-Carr, 2012, Kotchen and Young, 2007 and Liu et al., 2007). At an operational level, the CHANS approach links sub-models of human and natural systems and identifies the key parameters, interactions and feedbacks to develop better policies for tackling environmental issues with respect to sustainability (Carpenter et al., 2009). Defining sustainability remains a

controversial issue among and within the various academic disciplines (Neumayer, 2010), and we support the notion that attaining sustainability requires the maintenance of functions and processes of natural systems that provide society with goods and services (e.g. natural resources, find more human health) (Bithas, 2008, Bithas and Nikjamp, 2006 and Ekins et al., 2003). A challenge to CHANS models is that natural and social sciences, having mainly worked in isolation in the past, use different scales

of analysis to approach many environmental issues (Cumming et al., 2006, Ostrom, 2009 and Pickett et al., 2005). The CHANS framework, with linkages between socioeconomic and ecological systems, has been used extensively in the DAPT concentration last decade to better understand specific case studies (Haynie and Pfeiffer, 2012, Hopkins et al., 2012, Hufnagl-Eichiner et al., 2011 and Liu et al., 2007). Liu et al. (2007) presented five case

studies within the CHANS framework and highlighted the ability of integrated studies to capture systems dimensions that were previously not well understood. For example, in Wisconsin, ecological condition of lakes attracts tourism but economic development and touristic activities Ribonucleotide reductase impact the ecological condition and in turn the attractiveness of the area. A study about the social–ecological coupling between agriculture in the Mississippi River Basin and hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico found a mismatch between where the highest nutrient runoff occurs and the investment of socioeconomic resources that would help reduce hypoxia (Hufnagl-Eichiner et al., 2011). The usefulness of thinking in terms of systems’ couplings has also inspired the development of a systems approach to define sustainable patterns of socioeconomic development for eighteen coastal systems in the European region (Hopkins et al., 2012). Long-term data sets and historical analyses are needed to identify key components and couplings among humans and ecological systems to plan for sustainability (Carpenter et al., 2009 and Swetnam et al., 1999). We explored data on climate, human population dynamics, land use, lake ecology and human health over Lake St. Clair’s past 100 years (1900–2010).